This image released by Disney shows the muppet character Kermit the frog, left, and Ricky Gervais in a scene from "Muppets Most Wanted." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises, Inc., Jay Maidment)
Photo: Jay Maidment, HOEP

This image released by Disney shows the muppet character Kermit the...

This image released by Disney shows the muppet character Constantine, a Kermit the frog look-alike, in a scene from "Muppets Most Wanted." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises, Inc., Jay Maidment)
Photo: Jay Maidment, HOEP

Any talk of a curse on young-adult film franchises was put on hold this past weekend with the $54.6 million opening for "Divergent," the first adaptation from Veronica Roth's trilogy.

"Divergent" tells the story of a young woman fighting for freedom and survival in a dystopian society. After a string of young-adult novel adaptations that has included many big misses, there was curiosity as to whether it would be the next "Hunger Games" or the next "Mortal Instruments."

"Divergent" solidly met expectations without exceeding them. By comparison, the first "Hunger Games" film opened at more than $152 million in March 2012, and the sequel, "Catching Fire," opened in November to $158 million.

A sequel to "Divergent," titled "Insurgent," is scheduled to begin filming in May.

1 DIVERGENT, xxx

The movie's world is absurd - a future society is broken up into various personality types - but the day-to-day story of Beatrice (Shailene Woodley), trying to make it into a faction of warriors, is not without interest. A decent allegory about the difficulties of high school, it's ideal for a young audience. (PG-13) 140 minutes - Mick LaSalle

$54.6 million; one week

2 MUPPETS MOST WANTED, xxxx

This international jewel-heist caper is less story-driven and darker than 2011 franchise resurrection "The Muppets," but it's no less entertaining - especially for those who remember and cherish some of Jim Henson's more madcap and twisted turns. Children in the audience may not be thrilled at the highbrow humor and lack of pointless action, but tough luck. Life is more than "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" and "The Smurfs" sequels. (PG) 106 minutes - Peter Hartlaub

$17 million; one week

3 MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, xxx1/2

This mostly forgettable animated diversion is at its best when the genius dog and his adopted boy go back to its TV cartoon basics: time traveling and offering a helping hand with history. Leonardo da Vinci, King Tut, Marie Antoinette and George Washington all make enjoyable cameos. (PG) 91 minutes - Peter Hartlaub

$11.8 million; $81.1 million; three weeks

4 GOD'S NOT DEAD, x

Shane Harper plays Josh Wheaton, a freshman at Hadleigh University who ignores warnings and enrolls in Professor Radisson's philosophy class. Radisson (Kevin Sorbo in a Lucifer goatee) is a smug, sneering atheist who insists that his students sign an admission that "God is dead," before he even starts the semester. Josh refuses to sign, and thus the professor decides to give the kid the entire semester (apparently) to prove the opposite. This is the angriest faith-based film in memory. (PG) 112 minutes - Roger Moore, MCT

$9.2 million; one week

5 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, xx

Eva Green's turn as a femme fatale is the only interesting note in this murkily directed follow-up to the much-better "300." It is just a series of battle scenes, with little rooting interest. (R) 103 minutes - Mick LaSalle

$8.5 million; $93.6 million; three weeks

6 NEED FOR SPEED, xxx1/2

Though overlong and formulaic, two things keep this street-racing movie of interest all the way to the finish line. The first is Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad"), a sensitive actor in his first major movie showcase. The second: some extraordinary racing sequences. (PG-13) 130 minutes - M.L.

$7.9 million; $30.6 million; two weeks

7 THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, xxxx1/2

This is the movie Wes Anderson has been promising for 15 years, one that's more than a scattershot mix of great and bad scenes, one that builds and takes on meaning as it goes along. It stars Ralph Fiennes as a hotel manager in the 1930s, a roguish but noble character, the best use of Fiennes in recent years. Very funny, very recognizable as an Anderson film, but with a complex undercurrent of sadness. (R) 99 minutes - M.L.

$6.8 million; $12.9 million; two weeks

8 NON-STOP, xxx

Liam Neeson stars in this crazily enjoyable action film about a troubled, alcoholic air marshal stuck on a trans-Atlantic flight with lunatics bent on killing a passenger every 20 minutes. The film features Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o in her first role since "12 Years a Slave." (PG-13) 107 minutes - M.L.

$6.4 million; $78.7 million; four weeks

9 THE LEGO MOVIE, xxxxx

This animated movie is a wonderful surprise, cleverly written and executed brick by brick with a visual panache. Filled with humor and action, it pulls off an emotional finish. (PG) 95 minutes - P.H.

$4.1 million; $243.4 million; seven weeks

10 THE SINGLE MOMS CLUB, 1/2 star

Tyler Perry is flat out of laughs, and his heartfelt Oprah-approved sermonettes, about every woman deserving a "good man," feel exhausted and played. Perry has made better movies and, perhaps, worse ones. But never one as dull as this. (PG-13) 110 minutes - Roger Moore, MCT

$3.1 million; $12.9 million; two weeks

11 SON OF GOD, xxx1/2

"Son of God" has stretches where the agony is avert-your-eyes awful. But this big-screen version of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's miniseries "The Bible" has a redemptive optimism about it that makes the brutality go down easier. (PG-13) 138 minutes - R.M.

$2.7 million; $55.7 million; four weeks

12 THE MONUMENTS MEN, xxxx

George Clooney's old-fashioned war movie is based on the exploits of a real-life platoon of mature guys, with backgrounds in the arts, tasked to find and protect the millions of art treasures stolen and hidden by the Nazis. (PG-13) 118 minutes - M.L.